Typically, a blood pressure value is measured by winding a cuff fitted with an organism compressing fluid bladder configured to compress the artery located in the organism around a body surface of the organism and then expanding and contracting the organism compressing fluid bladder to detect a resultant arterial pressure pulse wave.
It is to be noted that the cuff means a stripe-shaped structure that has a lumen and can be wound around part of the organism so that it can be utilized in measurement of an arterial pressure of the upper/lower limb by injecting a fluid such as an air or a liquid into the lumen. Therefore, the cuff is a word denoting a concept that includes an organism compressing fluid bladder and a winding member configured to wind the organism compressing fluid bladder around the organism.
The conventional upper arm type blood pressure measurement apparatus operates by winding a cuff around the upper arm of a user etc. such that fluctuations occur in the cuff winding strength for each measurement, also resulting in fluctuations in the measured value of the blood pressure. Accordingly, in recent years, such a blood pressure measurement apparatus has been widely used as to be equipped with an automatic cuff winding mechanism capable of automatically winding the cuff around the upper arm.
The blood pressure measurement apparatus equipped with the automatic cuff winding mechanism is fitted on its predetermined position with an upper arm insertion unit through which the upper arm can be axially inserted from its front side, so that a user may have the cuff wound around his upper arm only by axially inserting the upper arm from its front side through a hollow portion formed in the upper arm insertion unit. With this blood pressure measurement apparatus, a constant winding strength will be reproduced every time measurement is conducted, so that stable measurement accuracy can be realized and, moreover, a complicated winding operation can be eliminated.
As prior art technological documents disclosing such a blood pressure measurement apparatus equipped with the automatic cuff winding mechanism, the following Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-000337 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-334049 (Patent Document 2) may be enumerated. By using those blood pressure measurement apparatuses, the blood pressure can be measured and managed every day for daily healthcare, so that a family-use blood pressure measurement apparatus is becoming widely used. By using such a blood pressure measurement apparatus, the blood pressure is measured every day to show timewise fluctuations in blood pressure so that it may be utilized in self-diagnosis against a risk of damage to the cardiovascular system.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-000337
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-334049